Race for the Cure

This morning I ran the Race for the Cure, which was my second 5k. I've been training for this race for weeks and I was anxious to see how I'd do, especially after having two really great training runs this past week.

I wasn't excited about my 6 a.m. wake up call but as I was driving to campus to meet Tym and Amy to carpool, my race day adrenaline started kicking in and I could feel the butterflies forming in my stomach. The closer we got to downtown, the more my nerves started kicking in. When we made the walk from Newport to the stadium where the race started, my adrenaline started pumping and I just couldn't contain my excitement. We met up with Nicole, one of my co-workers and just walked around taking in the crowd. As of 7 a.m., there were 18,000 people registered for the Race! It was a much bigger and much more exciting 5k than the one I ran in August where there were only about 100 people!

A bunch of the local radio stations were there and had music going to get everyone excited. We had registered for the non-competitive run so our run started 15 minutes after the competitive one. However, we made sure we were at the front of the start line for our race so we could get out of the crowd and actually run. I started off with a slow jog and then slowed down to a fast paced walk which helped as we approached the quarter mile mark because it was a hill. Nicole and I took it at a run and made it about halfway up before we had to walk the rest of it. However, it didn't take me long to recover and we were off running again!

My race day adrenaline helped a lot because when we crossed that one mile mark at 14:58 I was shocked! I had cut almost a minute and a half off of my mile time since last month's 5k! That helped to keep me going as we approached the water stop at a little over a mile and a half and I was able to run the last quarter mile and cross the two mile mark at a run. I crossed the two mile mark at exactly 30 minutes and I wish someone had had a camera to record the smile that just spread across my face as I knew I was going to come in at the finish line under an hour again.

I had high hopes that I would finish the whole 5k at 45 minutes or under but the last mile was rough because it was a much bigger hill than the first two hills had been and I had to walk all of it. At the crest of the hill Nicole and I took off running and that downhill helped my time greatly because we crossed the finish line at exactly 48 minutes! I threw my hands up in the air and shouted in excitement because I had finished in under an hour again and had cut four minutes and 20 seconds off of last month's 5k time!!

By the time all of that kicked in, I was doubled over because I kept saying I was going to get sick. hahaha....I hadn't eaten this morning (I never do before I run) because I knew it would make me nauseous but since there was only one water stop through the course, my body had lost water and I was shaky. Luckily they handed out water bottles at the end and I downed mine as quickly as they gave it to me and I was able to recover quickly.

We walked through some of the booths they had set up and each of us had a skinny cow ice cream which was SO good post race! I was trying to save room because I really wanted a smoothie since we had parked at the levee until I later discovered that the smoothie place wasn't open when we got back to the car. Bummer. At least the ice cream was good!

I was so proud of my run time this morning and so proud of Nicole who had kept telling me last night and this morning to leave her behind as I was running because she was going to walk it. She pushed herself SO hard and did so well! Without her, Tym, and Amy cheering me on and pushing me to run further when I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't have been able to do this. They were my support system today and I was so thankful for each of them being there with me!

I had lunch with my sister, brother in law, and the kids and then came home and soaked in a hot bath because the hills in this 5k had killed me and I was so sore! After soaking in the tub for an hour, I laid down in bed for a nap and ended up sleeping for three hours. This race had been so amazing but it just took so much out of me.

If I didn't think I was completely crazy, I'd register for a 5k that's coming up next Saturday evening but it's hills are even more killer and I'm not sure I'd do as well in it since I won't be able to train the way I need to this week because this week is a recovery week. My mom is a nurse and she thinks it's not smart and thinks I should take it easy so we'll see.

All in all, I'm very, very proud of how well I did today and the fact that I pushed myself harder this time around! All of this training is paying off and I'm well on my way to a 14 or 15 minute mile at the half marathon next May! :-)

Now I leave you with pictures from today!


Before the Race for the Cure with Tym, Amy, and Nicole!

A hot, sweaty mess after the Race for the Cure in the parking garage!

With my Amy love!

Posing with Tym after the Race!

A season for everything

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:"
--Ecclesiastes 3:1

They say there's a reason for everything and I'm starting to believe that. What if I hadn't been in Youngstown the day my cousin called from Denver? What if I hadn't answered the phone and re-established a connection with him? What if I had stopped there instead of sending emails and planning a visit? What if I had never gone to Denver for spring break? How different would my life be?

After my trip to Denver last week, I feel like things are playing out the way they are for a reason. The pastor at the church I visited made a comment during his sermon that we weren't there by accident. We could have been at any other church in the Denver metro area that morning and instead we walked through the doors of Thorncreek for a reason. It wasn't a mistake and God had a purpose for it. That's how I feel about my visits to Colorado and for why I'm still single. Obviously God is using this stage in my life for a reason, even if I don't always understand that reason.

When I landed in Denver on my first day of my vacation, I felt like I was home again. I feel as if God is opening up doors for me and to opportunities I would never have considered before that first trip to Denver. I know I still have a little over a year and a half left of grad school but I feel like God may be molding me to come out of my comfort zone into a completely different place that He has chosen for me. There's something calling me out to Denver and it's more than just the people I've established a relationship with. I have friends in other states and other cities but you don't see me wanting to move there. I feel like all of these small visits are God's way of branching me out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown (Casting Crowns lyric anyone? haha) to mold me into a stronger woman.

For so long I have griped about being single and not understanding why I'm 25 years old and yet I've never been in a serious relationship. After a long talk with Denise last night at the gym, I realize that this could be why. Mike jokingly tells me that he thinks my soul mate is in Colorado but this is so much more than that. I don't have a boyfriend/fiance/husband, I don't have kids, and once I'm done with my Master's, I won't have school tying me down anymore. There is no reason I can't step out on a ledge and take a flying leap into something I never would have considered before. Yes, my immediate family and my best friends are here, but like my mom said, it gives them a new place to visit and I need to follow my heart and do what my heart is telling me.

I shouldn't be looking at this period in my life as traumatic and like I'm missing something. Instead, I should be looking at it as an opportunity to explore the world and do things I can't do with a husband and kids. This is my chance to be free and to be me and to let God take me where He wants to take me. He has so much to teach me and I have so many things I want to do so I'm going to choose to rejoice and I'm going to continue praying to see where this journey is going to take me.

Real update coming soon!

I know I owe a real update sometime soon. I was going to do it tonight but I'm running my second 5k on Saturday (the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure!) so I needed to go to the gym and do a training run since I only ran once on vacation and it was a pitiful run at that.

I'm also getting over being sick and the doctor put me on a cough medicine that is making me drowsy so I'm going to go sleep it off.

This is my reminder to myself to update you on everything I mentioned in the previous entry, along with my thoughts on moving to Denver and the doors I feel are opening up for me.

That's all. I'm off to take a shower and go to bed before I fall asleep on my keyboard.

Note to self

Notes to self on what to update on:

Friday:
--Flights
--Rental car
--Dinner at Jack's
--Late night conversation with Mike

Saturday:
--Lookout Mountain
--16th Street Mall
--Wazee Supper Club

Sunday:
--Checked out a new church
--Shopping and getting lost adventures with Kelly
--Dinner with the boys and Kelly
--Lookout Mountain at night

Monday:
--U.S. Mint tour
--Capitol Building Tour
--Hard Rock Cafe
--Rockies game (and my very vocal opinion on their fans!)

Tomorrow we're off to Pike's Peak and Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs! Can't wait!

Oh and I need to remember to write about my thoughts on moving out here.

That's all for tonight because it's 11:30 here (and 1:30 over there on the east coast!) so I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

And we're off!

Just wanted to do a quick update saying that I'm feeling ten times better since last night's entry. I ended up taking a candle lit bubble bath to relax last night and then took some Tylenol PM to get some much needed sleep. I woke up feeling so much better this morning. I don't sound better because I'm still congested, but otherwise I feel great!

Kelly and I are currently in Indianapolis for the night anxiously awaiting our flight to Denver tomorrow morning! I have been counting down to this trip for months and it's finally here! We're watching Jersey Shore at the moment (my guilty pleasure haha!) and then I'm going to shower so we can get some sleep before our 5 a.m. wake up call so we can catch the 6 a.m. shuttle to the airport.

Next stop: DENVER!!!!

Meltdown mode

I've been in pre-meltdown mode since getting home from Athens on Sunday night and today I finally broke down and cried. Too bad the meltdown came at work, the one place I always swore I'd never cry but it all came tumbling down and I lost it after our weekly weigh in.

I had a conversation with Megan and then with Vince last night about how I think it's depressing that I always have to call on my gay best friend to take me to things such as weddings and out on special occasions such as my birthday because I don't have a boyfriend to do those things for me. I told Vince I felt it was a burden and he was quick to reassure me that he doesn't think it's a burden, that he enjoys it and told me I was over thinking all of this, though I don't think I am. He also told me I'm ridiculous, which is probably true but he loves me anyway which is a good thing considering all that he tolerates from me, though he tells me he chooses to do it and doesn't just tolerate it. :-)

On top of that, I woke up feeling sick this morning. A couple of days before I went to Athens I lost my voice but didn't feel sick at all. This morning, I woke up nauseous and I couldn't breathe and I've had no appetite. When I got to work this morning I asked to be sent home early but didn't get sent home until 3, which I guess is better than nothing. I'm thinking this is all because the weather is changing and all of my kiddos at work are sick as well but it still sucks, especially with my Denver trip being 48 hours around the corner.

We're doing a Biggest Loser competition at work and today was our second weigh in. Today's number was enough to set me over the edge and was what led to my emotional breakdown at work. According to the scale, I've put on 3.5 pounds in the last week. Granted, we changed scales and this one is supposed to be more accurate but it discouraged me. Everything has felt looser but apparently I'm gaining weight? I don't get it.

I walked out of the office and into the baby room and Patti asked me how I was feeling and I ended up in tears with she and Amy. I went back into the office and asked Kelly to send me home because I wasn't feeling well. I ended up crying with Kelly for about ten minutes as she tried to reassure me but by the time I got back to my classroom I was a mess. I was so glad when Katie came back and told me that she was relieving me and they were sending me home. I don't think my emotional state could have handeled the rest of the afternoon at work.

I know I'm not over the hump and I still have a lot on my mind but that brief cry helped a little. I have a feeling I may end up breaking down again. I need to get it out now because I don't want to be a mess while I'm in Denver. I knew it was coming based on Sunday afternoon and a talk I had had with Vince and today it all finally came tumbling down. Now I just need to sort it all out.

All I have to say is thank God for people like Megan, Vince, and Kelly who have been dealing with my emotional self all week. I don't know what I'd do without them.